Victor Davis Hanson continues on his McGovern theme concerning Barack Obama.

The reason this theme has resonance is because people who spend time thinking about the behavior of American voters (like Hanson) are beginning to realize (some have known for some time) that Barack Obama is a weak candidate. I, for one, thought he would be a strong candidate based on his ability to generate voter enthusiasm, especially among the young and those previously estranged from the process. But, increasingly, it seems Obama is weaker than I initially thought and, perhaps, is so weak that he cannot win. Why?

First, while we have come a long way from the days of Jim Crow, race still matters. Here is an analysis of that issue in The New York Times (significant because it now brings into polite conversation what had only been whispered about behind the scenes). (The Times mitigates against the damaging effect of that article with this one that seems to argue that perhaps Obama's weakness in swing states isn't so bad, after all). Anatole Kaletsky, writing in The Times of London, while making his discomfort plain, also says race matters. Bob Novak argues, as he has in the past, that the Bradley Effect on polls is masking the depth of Obama's problem. Observers like them (and I agree) believe that the reluctance of older, White voters to vote for Obama, driven in part by the fact that he is an African-American, but also by his youth, his relative inexperience, his choice of a church and a pastor, and a McGovern-like political posture on the issues, is a stubborn fact that won't go away. It may mean that Obama will not only not be able to win ANY Southern states, but may have trouble winning in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Second, the Democrats are returning to the divisions of the past, as pointed out by Harold Meyerson in this piece. I would argue that, as a party based on identity politics, this was inevitable. When people are encouraged to think of themselves primarily as members of racial and/or ethnic groups, or on the basis of class distinctions, that can be advantageous under certain circumstances in driving voters toward a particular candidate but, as we are seeing today, it can also create division and bitterness.

Third, as David Broder points out, the longer the contest goes on, the more bitter the divisions, the greater the disappointment for the followers of the losing candidate, and the more time and space the GOP has to build it's campaign behind John McCain.

In what should be a great year for the Democrats, the stars continue to align for John McCain and the GOP.

Ralph Peters thinks Secretary of Defense Gates hit a grand slam by nominating Generals like Petraeus and Odierno for promotion. The Wall St. Journal seconds that notion. I agree. Like Lincoln, George W. Bush has finally gotten the generals he needs to win the war. If, in November, the American people elect a President committed to winning, then those generals will be in place to make it happen.

The C.I.A is set to reveal that a videotape made at a secret Syrian nuclear facility shows North Korean engineers working on the site, which was eventually bombed by the Israelis.